Nadi, Denarau and the Mamanuca Islands
Your last evening in Nadi, and the engagement ring is not on your finger
Wailoaloa Beach is where Nadi goes for live bands and the sunset, with a public beach at one end of the strip.
A ring that went missing on the last night in Nadi is not beyond reach just because the flight leaves in the morning. What decides it is the ground: a stretch of Wailoaloa sand, a berth at Port Denarau or the beach of one Mamanuca island can be searched, while open water on the way out to the reef is far harder.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone around Nadi, on Denarau or in the Mamanuca Islands with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the beach, the marina or the island, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
Nadi is the international gateway on the western side of Viti Levu. Day boats leave Port Denarau and Vuda Marina for Beachcomber Island, Treasure Island, Castaway Island and Malolo Lailai, and boat charters go out to the surf islands of Tavarua and Namotu.
Before you pack for the airport
Go over the evening in order while it is fresh: where you ate, where you sat on the sand, whether you walked along the water. Put a pin on your phone's map for each place and take a screenshot. A picture from earlier that night with your hand in it gives the detectorist a time and a place to start from.
Then let the bar, restaurant or resort know, in case the ring is handed in. For a loss on an island day trip, write down the boat you went on, the island it stopped at and whether it left from Port Denarau or Vuda Marina.
Places we cover around Nadi, Denarau and the Mamanuca Islands
- Nadi
- Wailoaloa Beach
- Nadi Bay
- Martintar
- Vuda and Vuda Marina
- Denarau Island
- Port Denarau
- Beachcomber Island
- Treasure Island
- Castaway Island
- Malolo Lailai
- Malolo Island
- Mana Island
- Tokoriki Island
- Tavarua Island
- Namotu Island
- Cloudbreak and the southern Mamanuca surf breaks
- The Malolo Barrier Reef
From the Wailoaloa strip out to the surf islands
The first three are a drive from Nadi Airport. Everything after them is reached by boat.
Wailoaloa Beach
Wailoaloa is a laid-back beach community in the heart of Nadi Bay, with a public beach at one end and a run of beach bars and restaurants along the rest. It is better known for its social life than for swimming: people come for volleyball, paddling practice and morning jogs, and in the evening for live bands and the sunset. Tell us which bar or restaurant you were nearest, and whether you were on the sand, at a table or at the water's edge.
Denarau Island and Port Denarau
Denarau Island is a resort enclave with a golf course and the Port Denarau marina complex. The Bula Bus runs between the resorts and the port, which sits on the water's edge with its shops and restaurants and is where many of the island day boats set off. If something went at the port, name the wharf or the boat you were boarding.
Vuda and Vuda Marina
Vuda is tucked away from the hustle of Nadi, with a beach, a handful of resorts and a lively marina. Day boats to Treasure Island leave from Vuda Marina. Say whether the loss was on the beach, along the marina or on board.
Beachcomber, Treasure and Castaway islands
All three are Mamanuca islands visited on day trips: Beachcomber and Castaway by boat from Port Denarau, Treasure Island from Vuda Marina. Beachcomber is a popular island with travellers for an island-style party, and Castaway is a private island. Tell us which side of the island you were on and where the boat set you down.
Malolo Lailai and Malolo
Malolo Lailai has sheltered moorings and marina berths, and a day sail from Port Denarau stops there. On Malolo Island there is a cove rimmed by white sand, and a floating bar sits above a reef near Malolo. A loss from a moored yacht, from the floating deck or on the beach each calls for a different starting point, so say which it was.
Mana and Tokoriki
Mana is a peanut-shaped island with a sheltered lagoon inside its fringing reef, and white sand beaches rim the lagoon. Tokoriki, the northernmost of the Mamanucas, has a white sand beach on its southwestern side between rocky headlands, with walking tracks over to beaches on the east coast.
Tavarua, Namotu and the surf breaks
Tavarua and Namotu are tiny islands in the southern Mamanucas, minutes from the surf breaks. Namotu Lefts breaks in front of Namotu, and Cloudbreak is a fast barrel over shallow reef. A watch or ring lost while surfing out at Cloudbreak is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first. Something dropped on either island, or on the boat, is a different matter.
Between your first line and a search day
The same name on every reply
The first reply and the last one in the chat come from the same person. Add a detail whenever it comes back to you, even days later.
Leaving Fiji is fine
If you are leaving Fiji soon, tell us when. The detectorist gets your pins, your photos and the order of the evening, and you do not need to be in Nadi for any of it.
Where your account points
Some accounts point to a beach and some to the channels between the islands. We tell you which yours looks like, and why, before a detectorist is contacted.
Money talked about early
We explain the costs before any search is booked. The decision is yours once you have them.
A lagoon inside the reef, and waves on its edge
Most of the Mamanucas sit in calm water, and the surf breaks lie out on the barrier reef.
The Mamanuca lagoon
An extensive barrier reef shelters the lagoon, with bommies and patch reefs scattered through it, and the water is calm and clear. In certain places children snorkel straight off the beach. If you were snorkelling, tell us what you could see beneath you when you noticed.
Islets that come and go
A few of the islets and cays in the group disappear at high tide. If you spent time on a sandbank, give the boat name and the hour you were there, because how much of it was dry depends on the tide.
Questions about Nadi, Denarau and the Mamanuca Islands
We fly out of Nadi tomorrow, and the engagement ring came off at Wailoaloa tonight. Is it worth writing?
It is. The detectorist works from what you send, so you can be at home by the time anyone searches. Before you sleep, pin the bar or restaurant you were closest to and the patch of sand where you sat, and say whether you went down to the water. Wailoaloa has a public beach at one end and beach bars and restaurants along the rest, so tell us which end you were at.
Boarding the day boat at Port Denarau, I felt the phone leave my back pocket and heard the splash.
Tell the crew before the boat pulls away, and write down its name and the spot where it was tied up, since that berth is where any search would begin. Port Denarau sits on the water's edge, and many of the island day boats set off from there, so the departure time helps us tell one boat from another.
A bracelet went missing during a party on Beachcomber Island, and we were back on the mainland the next day.
Beachcomber is a popular island with travellers, and the boats out to it leave from Port Denarau. Tell us where on the island the evening took place, whether you danced on the sand or went into the sea, and where the boat set you down and picked you up again. A photo from that night showing the bracelet on your wrist helps.
A wedding band went over the side of our yacht while we were moored at Malolo Lailai.
A mooring or a marina berth is a fixed point, which is a good start. Malolo Lailai has sheltered moorings as well as marina berths, so say which you were on, give the berth number or the position of the mooring, and tell us from which side of the boat the band fell. If you moved the dinghy around that day, add where it went.
Somewhere in the Mana lagoon, between the beach and the first coral, my Oura ring came off.
Mana is ringed by the fringing reef of a sheltered lagoon, with white sand beaches around its edge. Mark the beach you swam out from, and the direction you drifted in. Tell us whether you could stand up at the moment you noticed, and what was beneath you: sand, weed or coral.
Our room keys disappeared somewhere between our resort on Denarau and Port Denarau.
The Bula Bus stops at the resorts on Denarau and at the port, so list where you got on and off, and the shops and restaurants you went into at Port Denarau. Ask at the front desk and the places you stopped at first. If the keys are still missing, send the list with a pin for each stop.
An earring went missing on Tokoriki, somewhere between the beach on the southwest side and the beaches on the east coast.
Walking tracks run from the southwestern side of Tokoriki over to the beaches on its east coast, so the earring could be on either beach or along the way. Pin the beach you started from and the one you walked to, and say where you stopped. Tokoriki is the northernmost island in the Mamanuca group, and a fringing reef surrounds it, so say too whether you swam on the way.
We went to Treasure Island from Vuda Marina, and my chain was gone by the time we got back.
That leaves three places to think about: the marina at Vuda, the boat, and the island. Ask the boat crew first. Then write down what you did on Treasure Island hour by hour, from stepping off the boat to getting back on, and pin the spots where you swam and where you sat.
Nadi, Denarau and the Mamanuca Islands
Wherever in Nadi Bay it happened
You do not need a pin yet to write to us.
The first message can be rough: which island or beach, and what came off. We come back with the questions that fit that place. Send it on WhatsApp.